Indians bullpen blows lead but Triston McKenzie dazzles in Royals loss

The Cleveland Indians own Triston McKenzie is just a rookie but he’s already looking like the real thing.

The Cleveland Indians have just been able to create one ace after another for a while now. Whether it’s C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Justin Masterson, Corey Kluber, and now Shane Bieber, the team just keeps finding and cultivating amazing starting pitching. Add on guys like Danny Salazar (when healthy), Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin, Roberto Hernandez, or Mike Clevinger, and you know the Indians have the ability to always develop great, top-of-the-rotation talent.

So the idea that Triston McKenzie is for real and not just having a good rookie season isn’t a far fetched idea at all.

Despite the bullpen blowing the Indians strong start on Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals, McKenzie again put on another dazzling display. He only pitched five innings but still had seven strikeouts. He did surrender a home run and gave up three runs but he left the game with a lead. Had the bullpen not collapsed, he would’ve recorded his third career win.

Despite not playing enough games to warrant a lot of AL Rookie of the Year nominations, McKenzie should give Tribe fans hope for what’s to come with the 23-year-old. A number of former Indians starters had less than impressive rookie years, like Trevor Bauer or Cliff Lee. Both men had big careers for the Tribe, with Lee even taking home the AL Cy Young award.

Currently, on the season, McKenzie has two wins, a 2.57 ERA, and 26 strikeouts. He’s shown tremendous control of his pitches, only having walked five batters so far. While he’s not posting Bieber type numbers, yet, McKenzie is very important to the future of the Cleveland Indians. Assuming all things go well, McKenzie could be competing with Bieber for Cy Young awards in a matter of a couple of years.